First Galactic War
"If any event could change the winds of Galactic History for the rest of our days. It shall be this one. The shots have rung out, and they have been heard across the stars.." - Interstellar Union President Martin Uro The First Galactic War (March 1st, 2289 - November 27th, 2297), was a major conflict fought between two opposing alliances headed by Human Nations attempting to impose hegemony upon one another. It began out of rising tensions between the Interstellar Union of Civilizations and Union of Colonies. After these tensions escalated to general war following the IN Glimmer of Light raid, other nations were drawn into the conflict due to prewar discussion as well as other international rivalries that had simmered for the past decades or even centuries. The War ended almost nine years later, and was considered the deadliest conflict in galactic history up until that point. It also signaled the fall of antiquated empires such as Juno, and the rise of the Orion Empire's dominion until 2417, when it was abolished. 'War Begins' Immediately following the IN Glimmer of Light raid, an incident in which "pirates" assaulted an Interstellar Military Supply Ship, the Interstellar Union of Civilizations investigated into Colonial Authority figures as well as the uncanny training of the supposed "pirate hijackers" on "stolen Colonial Vessels." After the investigation ended with a decisive tie to the Union of Colonies, said Union was expelled from the Interstellar Union of Civilizations, and thus declared itself at war with their former masters. The Initial battles fought between these two Unions proved mainly indecisive, with neither side gaining the upper hand on one another. But the decisive Hodven Offensive fought in 2290 showed that it would be nearly impossible to win the war against the Colonial Alliance any time soon. Other massive battles were fought between the Juno Empire and the Colonial Alliance, which formed from Novakia and the Union of Colonies, as both saw Juno and the Interstellar Union as threats to their sovereignty, the former having invaded Novakia for assisting the Union of Colonies. Other powers began aligning to the opposing factions, on one side being the Interstellar Alliance and the other being the Colonial Alliance. Nations such as Ublika and Calisto sided with the Colonials, while Adrenia sided with the Interstellar Alliance, causing the war to very quickly spread across the galaxy, and by 2293, almost all nations in the galaxy found themselves at war with each other. 'Battle of Hodven and Defeat' One of the largest battles fought in galactic history soon began during the Battle of Hodven. Hodven is a strategic hubworld laying 450 light years away from Terra, the capital of the Interstellar Union. Hodven joined the Union of Colonies some five years earlier, and was loyal to them during this time of war. Once war broke out, the Interstellar Union and Juno Empire launched the "Hodven Offensive" in an attempt to destroy the Union of Colonies' war effort in one of their largest zones of control. This would culminate to the siege of Hodven, and the destruction of an enormous army at the hands of a surprisingly resilient Colonial Military. The Juno Empire, in an attempt to surround the Union of Colonies, demanded passage through the space-lanes of the Novakian and Ublikan Empires, but they both refused to host Juno Armies, which had ravaged both nations during the Juno Expansionist Wars (1600 - 2000). As a result, the Juno Empire declared War on the Novakian Empire first, not caring for the Ublikans, and began an invasion of Novakia. This would prove to be part of the downfall of the Juno Empire, whose massive army was being spread thin across the now dozens of fronts and worlds being fought over in this new kind of war. Casualties began pouring through as new technology being used to fight galactic-scale battles combined with outdated tactical and strategic doctrine led to many disasters by the established nations against this band of supposed pirates and radicals. Major Battles of the War The IN Glimmer of Light ''Raid. (March 1st, 2289) The IN ''Glimmer of Light raid occured on March 1st, when "pirates" with "hijacked Colonial Navy vessels" attacked Interstellar Freighter IN ''Glimmer of Light. ''This was met by protest from the Interstellar Union of Civlizations, whom hosted an investigation and later expelled the Union of Colonies and and had war declared on them by the Union. As such, it started off the First Galactic War, as the situation exploded from a local affair to a galactic-wide conflict, the first in 2 millennia of space exploration.